Superstitions and Bad Luck
In this lesson, we will talk about warding off bad luck and dealing with the supernatural.
| I do not believe in that superstition. | Eu não acredito nessa superstição. |
The "Magnet" Conjunctions
In European Portuguese, object pronouns normally attach to the end of the verb with a hyphen (as in levanto-me or assustas-te). However, certain words act as "magnets," pulling the pronoun to the front of the verb.
You already know that negative words like não are magnets. Subordinating conjunctions—words that link a dependent clause to a main clause—are also magnets. The most common ones are:
- se (if)
- porque (because)
- quando (when)
- que (that)
When one of these conjunctions introduces a clause, any object pronoun in that clause drops its hyphen and moves before the verb.
Notice how se pulls the pronoun te, and porque pulls the pronoun me in the following examples:
| If you get scared by the ghost, you wear the amulet. | Se te assustas com o fantasma, usas o amuleto. |
| I wear the amulet because it protects me from bad luck. | Eu uso o amuleto porque me protege do azar. |
Using "Quando" and "Que"
The conjunction quando works exactly the same way, pulling pronouns like me and se to the front of the verb.
| When I get up, I knock on wood to ward off bad luck. | Quando me levanto, bato na madeira para afastar o azar. |
| He wards off the witch when he hides himself under the bed. | Ele afasta a bruxa quando se esconde debaixo da cama. |
As your sentences become more complex, you will often build sentences where multiple clauses have their own magnet words. In the examples below, notice how quando, porque, que, and não all reliably pull the pronouns to the front of their respective verbs.
| He does not sleep because the story haunts him. | Ele não dorme porque a história o assombra. |
| When he goes to bed, he believes that the ghost does not see him. | Quando se deita, ele acredita que o fantasma não o vê. |